Part Three of Raid on the Sher-Li Temple or: The Fort of Jewel-Eye

Hoo's rifles, exposed on a small rise, see themselves as the next target for the westerner's firepower, and decide to charge the Sher native village. As they close, the pirates meet the natives' hail of spears with a barrage of pistol-balls, then go hand-to-hand through the widely-spaced stakes of the palisade. Though they kill many natives, Mgumbi, the village hero, singlehandedly slays five pirates and turns defeat into victory. Only a few native warriors survive, but no pirates manage to get inside the village. The British regulars now advance on the surviving pirates.

Hoo's rifles fall back, but the pirate swordsmen have demolished the undefended palisade at the livestock corral and begin to lead off goats and cattle. For the first time one of the junks has a clear field of fire. Hoo's muzzleloading broadside cannon in the junk roars out, but is slow to reload. Hoo rolls up the side of the wicker deckhouse on his command junk and gives the British gun crew on the distant hill a serious and quickfiring surprise; nonetheless it is growing clear that the pirates are rapidly becoming a spent force on the land.

The prospect does not look a great deal better on water. The San Juan Hill has been repairing its steam lines at the dock. When it receives word that hostile junks are around the point, the engineers refit the pipes and have steam up in an amazingly short time. The warship pounds out to sea, passing the local steam launch, which has decided the Sher-Li coast is no place for sightseeing on this particular day.

The Governor is by now in contact with Capt. Hyde-Davis, and orders him to take the Sepoy force to occupy the mission and ensure Priscilla's safety, and incidentally to secure the person of Sister Clarissa, in case a bargaining point with the Americans is required.

At the mission, the American native auxiliaries have arrived as the pirates charge the wall and sepoys come up from behind. The good Sister nails the lead pirate with her Colt Single Action. The pirates return fire with their pistols, killing the Mother Superior as she rushes from the building with the fire axe. Sister Clarissa says a brief prayer and thumbs back the hammer for another shot.

The first wave of pirates hit the wall, but the rest are strung out on the arduous climb up the hill. Faced with the Sister's blazing Colt, the mission civilians and the newly arriving American auxiliaries, the pirates are forced to retreat.

The pirates on the right are falling back before the advance of the British regulars with only a few head of livestock to show for their efforts. On the left they now have small chance of taking the mission, and the idol's jewels are a long-forgotten memory.

Hoo makes a decision. A display of fireworks roars skyward from the command junk. A signal, think the British commanders - but what can it mean?

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